A/N This is thanks to being on pain killers. I know that last chapter was boring, I needed to just get the boring stuff out of the way before we can move on.

"How do you know it was him?" Rogue asked as he rushed them inside the school doors. They had taken a very zig-zaggy route back to be sure they weren't followed.

"I know," Gambit said.

"So what if it was?" Rogue asked. "It could mean nothing. Maybe he's just here on vacation."

"I don't believe in coincidences," he said. Bobby coughed and they realized they had an audience of Kitty, Bobby and Jubilee in the rec room.

"What's going on?" Jubilee asked. Rogue and Gambit hadn't even noticed they'd made it to the rec room.

"Our waiter from de night we were attacked is here in New York," Gambit said grimly. "It's not a coincidence."

"I knew it," Bobby said, walking up to them and addressing Rogue for the first time in nearly two months. "He's dangerous, you shouldn't be with him. I thi-"

WHACK. Rogue's fist made connection with Bobby's face, sending him flying to the ground. She turned back to Kitty and Jubilee and continued as if nothing had happened.

"And I think it's possible that he might just be visiting. It's New York, after all."

"Trust me, it's not right."

"Uhm…" Kitty said, raising a hand. "We could just run a search on him and find out for sure…" They just stared blankly at her. Bobby groaned and pulled himself onto the couch.

"That is a very good idea, petite," Gambit said. "I can have his full name by tonight."

"Perfect."

"Ice cream anyone?" Jubilee chimed in. Bobby stared at them, nose dripping blood onto the floor.

"Sure," Rogue said brightly, trooping out with Jubilee and Kitty. Gambit gritted his teeth and followed, throwing Bobby a look over his shoulder.

"Next time you talk t' Rogue, try starting with a 'hello'," he advised.

"I can't believe you remembered to buy this!" Rogue said gleefully.

"Well it was a pain in the ass to find, I can tell you that much. Not many stores carry pumpkin ice cream year round," Jubilee told her.

"They're jealous, it's delicious."

"If you say so."

Gambit leaned back in his chair. As annoyed as he still was that she wasn't taking this seriously, he had to admit, it was good to see her starting to socialize again. She hadn't been very open with her old friends, but seeing her interact with Jubilee as putting some of his worries at ease. She was even relaxing around Kitty. Rogue threw a napkin at Jubilee, who shot fireworks at it. Gambit's heart did a happy little flutter when Jubilee reached over and grabbed Rogue's arm, playfully yanking her off the stool.

Gambit grinned. He liked the firecracker girl, she wasn't scared to touch Rogue. Hopefully others could follow her example. Logan popped his head into the kitchen, seeing Rogue and Jubilee giggling, with Kitty smirking. He caught Gambit's eye. The other man just shrugged and mouthed 'females'.

"Hey Rogue."

"Hey Logan," she answered. "Here to tell me off for punching Bobby?"

Logan snorted. "No, hell no. We've all wanted to punch that little turd, you're just the only one that got to do it." He paused. "Don't tell 'Ro." Jubilee, Kitty and Rogue burst into more sugar-induced giggles. Gambit leaned in and whispered so only Logan's super hearing could make out his words.

"Oh la la, mon ami. I didn't know yo' had a t'ink wit' Stormy." Logan glared.

"I didn't say that."

"Didn't have t'," Gambit smirked, leaning his chair back on two legs. Logan kicked it, somehow making the Cajun topple, causing the girls to laugh even harder.

Gambit frowned at the screen later that night. There was nothing, absolutely nothing unusual about their waiter. Jacques Olivier, 25, Louisiana native, ill grandmother in New York. He even found records of plane tickets going back over three years. As deep as he dug, everything about Jacques Olivier seemed normal American. He even had a speeding ticket or two. Sighing, Gambit gave up and went in search of Rogue.

"Yo' were right," Gambit said sullenly when he found her sitting on their balcony.

"I frequently am," Rogue answered. "About what?"

"Our waiter. He has a completely legitimate reason to be here," he grumbled.

"I always get cranky when someone isn't trying to kill me, too," she teased.

"Funny. Will yo' humor me in one way, chère?"

"Depends."

"When yo' leave de mansion, don't go alone? Only til we figure dis out. Please," he added as an afterthought.

"I'll do my best," Rogue agreed. "Only because it's a good idea, not because a woman should obey her man or any crap like that."

"Oh so I'm your man now?"

"Hell yes."

Even though he would never admit it, Gambit was nervous when classes started. A teacher, him? Of course, it was 'self defense' (Storm nearly fired his brains when he handed her a syllabus with the heading "Ass-Kicking Class"), but he still wasn't sure how well he could convey concepts to the youngins.

His slight anxiety was nothing compared to Rogue, though. Sure, she'd assisted in classes before, but never alone. Before she could work her way into a full-blown panic attack, Storm intervened. She sat down and helped Rogue with lesson plans. Eventually, Rogue relaxed and realized she could manager fine with only a few classes. When term started, neither Rogue nor Gambit were plagued by the jitters.

Taking roll the first day was an interesting experience. There was a list of the students' birth names, and next to that were their mutant names, if any. Those who preferred their mutant names had an asterisk next to their name. Rogue wished she could just assign each kid a number and leave it at that.

A few kids did stick out to her though. One very quiet little girl who was remarkably good at playing the flute, and a boy who, thanks to his mutation, could project his voice in a way that made it sound like a whole choir was singing.

Gambit, on the other hand, was getting rather frustrated. Most of the students knew the basics, but nothing that would actually help them if their attacker had any real skill. He strongly suspected he would have to go back and re-teach them everything.

"It's rude!" Gambit sighed, flopping back onto the bed. "Dey haven't even given dese kids de basics! How're dey going t' 'defend' demselves?"

"That's why they have you," Rogue assured him, coming out of the bathroom. "You can get them all badass-y."

"Damn straight. How were your monsters, I mean, kids?" Rogue snorted.

"It was fine. I told them I could knock 'em out just by touching 'em if they didn't shut up. They learned volume control pretty fast after that." Gambit chuckled. They got into bed, and she sprawled out across his body. "Actually, there were a few I liked. This girl Sarah, she was amazing with a flute. She's really quiet though, only spoke to tell me she didn't care what name I used."

Gambit frowned. "Does dis Sarah happen t' have pink hair? Bone t'ings coming out?"

"Yeah…do you have her, too?"

"No, at least I haven't yet. We'll see, no?"

"Yeah…"

"Anyways," Gambit said, rolling on top of her. "I t'ink we should break in dis new bed o' ours." Rogue noticed the not so subtle change in topic, but let it go. For now.

"Haven't we done that every night since we've been here? How long before it counts as 'broken in'?"

"When it's broken." He ground his hips into her for emphasis, and she couldn't help but let out a moan. Gambit grinned at what was rapidly becoming one of his favorite sounds. He leaned in and kissed down her neck until he hit her shirt. In one swift motion, he pulled it off, leaving her breasts and toned stomach bare. "Mon Dieu, how did I get so lucky?"

She smiled, kissed him, reaching between them for the button of his pants. They were going slow, tantalizingly slow. Why? Because they could, because they had the time.

When he finally entered her, Rogue was practically twitching with anticipation. He pushed in only a bit, before pulling out so only the tip of him was in her. Then in again, and out. Rogue moaned, clutching at the sheets.

"Stop teasing me," Rogue breathed. "Remy…"

He needed no more urging than that. He shoved into her as far as he could, making her cry out. Rogue braced herself against the headboard as he found a deep rhythm. She matched his thrusts, pushing to meet his. That familiar pressure built between her legs and suddenly she came, screaming his name.

Gambit kept going, thrust after thrust, drawing her pleasure out until she came again and again, one orgasm giving way to another and another. When she squeezed her legs around him, tightening around him once again, he came, his moans mixing with her scream of "REMY!"

Rogue could only lay there, boneless from pleasure. Gambit collapsed next to her. An entire battalion could have burst in now and all she would be able to do was blink at them.

A few hallways down, an irritated Logan removed the pillow from over his ears with a growl. "Finally," he muttered, before rolling over in an attempt to sleep. He was so going to kick the Cajun's ass in the Danger Room in the morning.

Gambit survived Danger Room with Logan, and even left cracking a joke about Logan's old age catching up with him. As soon as he got to his 'classroom' though, he immediately made a beeline for him class roster. Sarah Rushman, otherwise known as Marrow. He mentally cursed himself. It hadn't even occurred to him that she might be here. He'd left her with a very pro-mutant doctor he'd known, and trusted to keep her safe.

How long had she been here? Did she remember him? Before he could decide what to say to her, his class started straggling in, one after another. There were only six kids to expect, and of course, the last student was Sarah.

She walked in, eyes on the floor and closed the door. Still looking down, she sat on the floor by the other kids. When they continued chatting, she finally looked up and locked eyes with Gambit. Her mouth opened, eyes widening in shock. Gambit held his breath, unsure of what reaction his presence would evoke. Finally, Sarah's shocked face turned into a shy smile. Gambit smiled back and gave her a little wave.

"Okay den everyone, I am your wonderful and fantastic teacher, yo' can call me Gambit."

"Mr. Logan said you were a dancing teacher," one of the boys said suspiciously. "But this is self defense…"

"If I am a dance teacher, Monsieur Logan is a ballerina, no?" His class giggled. "Okay, let's get started."

The class went painfully slow. Once again, Gambit had to start from the beginning, especially how they were hitting.

"Don't hit de dummy like you're only trying t' hit it. Imagine your hand going all de way t'rough de other side."

Finally it was over, though they actually didn't do too bad, Gambit was antsy to talk to Sarah. When everyone trooped out, they were left standing, facing each other. No one said anything for several minutes. Abruptly, Sarah ran up and captured his waist in a hug. Gambit hugged her back. Sarah pulled away from him after a few minutes and smiled up at him.

"Bonjour, petite. How have you been?"

Sarah shrugged. "Fine," she answered. "I like it here, the people don't make me feel like a freak. Even with these." She gestured hopelessly at the bones protruding from her skin.

"Dat's because you aren't a freak," Gambit said firmly. He touched the bone gently. "There's nothing wrong with yo', they make you even prettier. " Sarah smiled faintly. "How long have yo' been here?"

"Almost a year." It made sense, that was about when he'd saved her. He was surprised his doctor friend never told him. "Did…did you tell them?" Sarah asked. "About, you know…what happened and how you saved me?"

"No. Did you?"

"No." Sarah paused. "Can you not tell them? I don't want people to know."

"My lips are sealed."

Storm could hardly believe the change in Sarah this school year. In fact, if she hadn't seen the transformation herself, she wouldn't believe it was the same girl. Sarah was eating more, doing better in her classes, even talking more (granted it was mostly to Gambit, but it was still an improvement). Theories on why the two of them were so close ranged from the simple idea that Sarah had a bit of a crush on Gambit, to the elaborate soap opera type theory that Gambit was her long lost father.

When he mentioned it to Rogue, she'd just shrugged.

"When you want to give me details, you will. It seems like my relationship with Logan. Like a mix of a father, older brother and guard dog." Gambit snorted.

"Logan is more of a guard Chihuahua."